Police arrest suspect after historic fountain damaged

By - Associated Press - Wednesday, August 8, 2018

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - Police have accused an upstate New York man of vandalizing a historic fountain that dates back nearly 150 years.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department says a 30-year-old man who lives in the city was charged Tuesday with criminal mischief. He was identified after the department released surveillance photos after the Morrissey Fountain was pushed off its base overnight Tuesday.

Officials are still assessing damage to the fountain.

Local historians say the fountain dates to 1870, when John Morrissey installed it outside his new casino, later renamed the Canfield Casino.

Morrissey was an Irish immigrant who grew up in Troy and became a champion prizefighter. He organized the first thoroughbred races in Saratoga in 1863 and opened Saratoga Race Course the following year.